farewell speech (English)

Hello everyone,

4 months are almost over. At this point I would like to tell you a bit about my feelings before, during and now at the end of my stay.

As most of you know, I spent one year during high school in Tokyo as exchange student. At that time I fell in love with the Japanese people, your culture, and your kindness. I came back 2 years later as high school graduation trip but didn’t have much time. So I decided to go again now, in my final year of medicine, for 4 month of surgery rotations.

I had no clue which Japanese Universities were good or bad, so I searched the internet until I had about 20 addresses of surgery professors in Japan. I wrote 20 emails and got 2 answers. One was from Sapporo University, saying they couldn’t accept me, and one was from Prof. Yasuda saying he would be glad to receive me for 4 month. I was so happy I couldn’t believe my luck. I booked my ticket, flew to Narita, took the train to Jichi-idai, almost got lost on the way and arrived here very very tired. On the next morning someone woke me up at 9 am (that was Ayumi) and with that bell my life in Jichi started.

Since then I rotated in general surgery, emergency medicine, orthopedic surgery and cardiovascular surgery.

At this point I want to thank all of you who have been with me in the one or the other department. You were all very helpful, thank you. You showed me around the departments and around the university, you translated during conferences and chart rounds. We shared good times but also hard and tiring times. Thank you for being nice even during a tough pig operation or during night duty at 3 am. Thank you very much.

I would also like to thank all those of you who went out with me on weekends or evenings. Thank you for Nikkou, Mashiko, Karaoke, Shabu-Shabu, Raamen, Temakisushiparty, Okonomiyaki, Ibarakikenjinkai, route 4 concert. It was always lots of fun.

I know what being with exchange students means. We had about 8 exchange students at my house in the past, so I understand how it must be for you.
Of course it is fun to learn about another culture, to see if your prejudices are really true, to understand if Germans really drink beer every day and have sausages for breakfast. But there is another side to it, too. No matter how good the exchange student speaks your language, there will be misunderstanding. If you want to make a joke you might have to tell it 3 times. When you are tired you still have to try to speak clearly and not use words only your home dialect has. If you want to gossip about a certain person the exchange student probably either doesn’t know her or doesn’t remember the name because it was too difficult.

And in the end, when you start getting really close, the stupid exchange student is going home again. I guess this is the point where we are now. I found many good friends, and I am going home in one week.

Still, we can’t change it; let’s make the best out of it. During the last 4 month Jichi University gave me so much that I want to return the favor as good as I can. So this is my promise: whenever any Jichi student or graduate needs a place to stay in Frankfurt let me know. If you or anyone you know wants to do a home stay in Germany, let me know. If anyone Japanese you know in Germany should ever need a doctor, give me a call. I will do the best I can, I promise. Please tell your friends and your juniors and encourage them to go to Europe and especially Germany. Beer and sausages are a lot tastier over there.

I hope you understand that I really mean this offer. This is not politeness; I would really love to establish a connection between Jichi and Germany. I will put my address up in the dormitory lounge so everyone can see it, and even if you come up with a trip in 3 years don’t hesitate to contact me. You are always welcome.

For myself, I will surely come to Japan again. I still haven’t seen Hokkaido, and of course I also have to go to Shimane Okinawa and so on. I will come back maybe when I have a boyfriend and then again on honeymoon and then again with little children – who knows? But I will come back for sure. I am looking forward to that day already.

Thank you again for everything.